NY Supreme Court dismisses fracking lawsuit

Albany, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Natural gas drilling proponents in New York state suffered another setback Monday when the State Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit.

It was the second of its kind brought by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York and Norse Energy, and it sought to stop the Department of Environmental Conservation's ongoing review of the environmental effects of hydrofracking.

But New York State Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough slashed those hopes with a dismissal of the lawsuit Monday.

"Landowners have been prevented from using an environmental resource. These are fundamental property rights that cannot be denied by a court," said JLCNY attorney Scott Kurkoski.

While JLCNY struggled with the news, anti-fracking activists celebrated it.

Those against drilling stood by the decision and praised the court for pushing the public health analysis forward, saying that health of residents is more important than profits.

"Over the last four months we've seen more science showing fracking's negative effect on health than they've seen in all of 2011 through 2013 combined, so there's a growing body of science saying fracking can't be done safely," said Isaac Silberman-Gorn of Citizen Action of New York and New Yorkers Against Fracking.